Monday, May 18, 1998 Last modified at 1:01 a.m. on Monday, May 18, 1998

Finding Cancer Early

TROY AIKMAN RECEIVED some very good advice recently. He recognized it and acted on it quickly. In so doing, he may have saved his life.

The Dallas Cowboys quarterback noticed about two months ago that he had a growth on his back, behind his left shoulder. His two sisters, who are both nurses, told him during a recent family vacation in Hawaii that he should get the growth checked.

He went to a doctor when he returned, and the mole was removed on May 8. A biopsy of the tissue revealed that it was melanoma, a potentially deadly skin cancer.

The good news is that the cancer, when it is detected as early as Mr. Aikman's cancer was, is not life-threatening. A Cowboys spokesman said that Mr. Aikman's cancer has a 100 percent rate of curability when caught early.

Mr. Aikman went public with his ailment so that he could warn people about the dangers of skin cancer. Dr. Jerald Sklar, who did the biopsy, noted that 1 million people will learn this year that they have skin cancer. More than 41,000 of those cases will be melanoma, and about 7,300 people will die from the disease this year.

"This is a case in point of how important it is to catch melanomas early," Dr.Sklar said. "A melanoma that goes undetected can spread internally ... and the results can be devastating."

Mr. Aikman told reporters that he is aware that he is at a greater risk to get the disease again. He will be on the alert for it, he said.

We wish Mr. Aikman well in this health matter, and we respect his desire to educate the public about potential dangers. The bottom line is that any suspicious growth should be checked by a doctor as soon as possible.